The Blasted Flatlands. A flat, semi-arid plain, peppered with ridges and hills, where no permanent settlements exist. To travel through them is to face the perils of heat and exposure, packs of feral Crossbreeds, monstrous Mutates, and hostile nomads known only as the Blasted. Only the most experienced or the most fool-hardy of explorers would dare to even attempt crossing it.

Unfortunately, one needed to cross the Flatlands to reach the Twisted Jungle. Deep in the heart of the Jungle was the ruined city of Magnifica, Splendor's former capital and supposed resting place of the mythical Eleutheria.

Eleutheria was the goal of Charles Dodgson, famed Wayfarer. He had disappeared on his first attempt to reach it a decade ago, and his daughter Alice was determined to ensure that her father's dreams would be fulfilled. Alice would reach Magnifica, unlock its secrets, and claim Eleutheria in her father's name.

GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRRRR!!!

Provided, of course, that she survived for the next ten minutes.

"This is a fine little mess you've gotten yourself into, Alice old girl!" The Dodgson heiress scolded herself as she coaxed the Bandersnatch to move faster. The clockwork cat mount scrabbled up and then down a rocky dune, its gears making a pitched whirring sound as it was pushed to its limit. Close to its heels and gaining fast was the source of Alice's distress, a rather large Mutate that resembled a cross between a hyena and an alligator. Alice estimated it to be at least eight feet high at the shoulder, and the scabby, scaly hide made her think that it possibly possessed some sort of natural armor.

As Alice clung to the Bandersnatch's steering wheel with her left hand, her right reached for the Flamingo holstered on her right thigh. She cocked the hammer and then flicked a button near the handle. Inside the chamber, the drill bit began to spin at a furious rate. Turning around, she was horrified to see that the Mutate had nearly caught up to her, its snout no more than three feet away from the tip of the Bandersnatch's metal tail.

Even as the Mutate leapt forward and opened its jaws wide to bite a chunk out of the Bandersnatch, Alice squeezed the trigger. With a puff of compressed air, the drill bit shot out of the Flamingo and straight through the roof of the Mutate's mouth. Alice jerked the steering wheel hard to the right, making the Bandersnatch jump aside to avoid the Mutate's leap. She heard a loud thump as the Mutate crashed to the ground, and then wheeled the Bandersnatch around to take a look at what had happened to her rather manxome foe.

The Mutate had fallen to the ground and was breathing slowly and heavily. Blood leaked from its large jaws, slowly coating the ground around its head a dusky red. Setting the Bandersnatch from Active to Idle, Alice got off the feline automaton. She drew the other Flamingo from her left holster, and then set both drills spinning as she slowly approached the Mutate.

"Well, well. Nice job, Alice old girl. Look at that, taking down a Mutate this big all by your lonesome! Why, you must've shot a drill straight into the brain! Oh well done, Alice!"

Her self-congratulations was cut short as the Mutate moved, obviously struggling to get back on its feet. Yelping, Alice leapt backwards, firing both Flamingos as she did so. One shot went wide, but the other drill hit the beast in the head, and it slumped back down. A rattling noise came from the back of its throat.

"There's the death rattle done. It's dead for good, this time. Best not to stick around, don't know what other beasties might come and check out the racket."

As if to confirm her murmured thoughts, a howl sounded off somewhere in the direction where she came from. Alice quickly leapt astride the Bandersnatch and set it back to Active. She took a quick glance up at the sun that was just beginning to set, then murmured to herself again.

"Right, time to find some shelter for tonight. Not in the direction of where those howls came from though. Howling generally means wolves, and one generally doesn't wish to go towards wolves, if one doesn't wish to be mauled. Good advice, that. Best to remember it, Alice."

So saying, she wheeled the Bandersnatch back around and began to search for an appropriate cave to spend the night. Two more days, she estimated. Two more days, then she would reach the Twisted Jungle.